DOWNEY : NASA Trims Threaten 7,000 Jobs, Study Says

Southern California could lose 7,000 jobs and $608 million in economic activity if NASA shifts its work on the space shuttle from the Rockwell Space Systems Division plant in Downey to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a study has concluded.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials said recently they are considering consolidating space shuttle projects at Kennedy to save money. The Clinton Administration has called for $8 billion in budget cuts at NASA over the next five years.

About 2,000 of the 3,250 employees at Rockwell’s Downey plant work on shuttle programs. But if Rockwell loses the contract, there would be a ripple effect that could claim thousands of additional jobs, the Cal State Fullerton study found. An additional 4,000 layoffs are likely at Rockwell suppliers or subcontractors, according to the report. The city commissioned the $3,000 study.

A group of City Council members and senior staff members recently flew to Washington to present the study to lawmakers and to urge them to keep the work at Rockwell.

Rockwell, which has been in Downey for 47 years, employed 35,000 workers at the height of the Apollo space program in the 1960s.